I joined the service and not. Nine hundred sixty nine. Did my basic training and
everything at Fort Gordon Georgia from there I volunteered I went to Vietnam spent
two tours there. Extended while I was there came back and went back again and then
I was from there they sent me to Germany and I spent about ten years in Germany and
from there they sent me back stateside I did
a my short or I didn't Turkey I spent six months in Turkey
then I came back to the states in Fort Sill Oklahoma No I'm sorry went to
Washington I was with
a mechanized infantry unit I was communication saw was with all the different
services in the army and mechanized and they switch us down the fort ord and then
our unit there got selected the be part of the multinational force so we went to
the Sinai for the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt and we're stationed there
for about six to eight months came back stateside to Oklahoma air
to the artillery unit from there and went to. Four in California and there we were
. There is where I spent the rest of my time which like the last three years and.
In towards the end of my twenty years in the service I had back surgery there and.
End up getting not
a medical discharge but they gave me one of my retirement twenty years of
retirement I was on the collective convalescent leave or whatever throughout the
rest of my six months I had left in the service and then I retired from there and
moved here to Lakeland Florida and I've been here since. I think my biggest one of
the when I was that the Fort Ord California when our unit got
selected to go to. To Sinai I thought that was quite interesting
and because I. I guess I was in communications so I was in charge of the floor
shows and stuff like that so I'd go to Israel to pick up
a floor show and bring them back to the to the peninsula and then another comic go
to Egypt I've seen the fair all been through the pyramids I've taken
a trip down the Nile and I've I got to see
a lot of things I'll never see again and and the other interesting tour of course
was Tarpey completely different you know all Moslem all the face all the ladies had
their Scaurus over their face and that was up in
a mountain top where I could see Mount are wrecked which was were supposedly Noah's
Ark was followed up on top of this mountain and we're way up snowed nine ten months
out of the year but we had. We had the munitions and the Turkish had
the weapons the fire the munitions and I was passed since I was the communications
I was part of the they didn't move them in nations out of Turkey out of out of the
spot I was that and I was part set up the communications to move these weapons
not weapons but the the ammo that goes in the weapons out of the country and we had
to keep communications with the bird all the way throughout the flight and I think
I. Think the military in.
Italy took over the communications until they got back stateside or wherever they I
don't even know where they went but I'm not sure of this is all still declassified
or not because I was pretty well classified thing that I was on there and it was
got to see a lot there and. Every time we were one off the detachment in
a vehicle like Way to go down the air field to pick up our our food or whatever and
drive it back up we always have to hit there was always at the gate there was an
armed van full of Turkish army that would follow us into town and
follow us back and basically what that was if we ran into troubles because we were
in the mountains and there was
a lot of Turkish people out there matter of fact at the bottom of my hill was
a big stadium outside stadium and that's where they would hold the big
trials for all their
a better word I guess just outlaws they find out doing things doing that and they
held and held their trial out there everybody
a one time but it was basically that band was basically
a. Little bit up the back. Doors to in the machine gun crew
and so that was tight security there but I enjoyed going to places like that I
rather be in the places like stateside the stateside as all states I do feel is
just the P.T.
. Cleaning up you know with the ecology call that the picking up cigarette
butts in this that and that and that's you know we did our training of course and
the training was good but. It was exciting I did I did just over twenty years but I
time I finally retired and I enjoyed my service or it was my own entire career or
really did and ever see these places again in my life and during that time of
course I got to go to when I was in Vietnam one time my first Toral went to law
Japan spent
a couple of weeks in Japan and then I went to all Australia the second to war it's
been
a couple of weeks there I'll just never see the country again like this again I'll
never see it again.